The South Korea-China free trade agreement (FTA) will go into effect on December 20th.
 
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said South Korea’s Ambassador to China Kim Jang-soo and China’s Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen on Wednesday exchanged official letters confirming the effectuation date.
  
The government believes that the deal will bring about positive effects, including boosting the price competitiveness of South Korean companies. 
 
Following its effectuation this year, the deal will immediately eliminate tariffs on 958 products, and additional tariff reductions will follow in January of next year.
 
Seoul and Beijing had continuously held consultations to swiftly put the trade deal into effect after agreeing during a summit on October 31 to finalize the effectuation before year’s end.
 
South Korea and China launched FTA negotiations in May 2012. An agreement was reached last November after 14 rounds of talks. The two countries signed the accord on June first in Seoul.